Socialite, Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, has arrived at the Ikoyi High Court for arraignment on charges of Naira abuse.

Yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that Cubana Chief Priest would be charged today for alleged naira abuse.

The commission filed the charge against him at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi.

Cubana Chief Priest will be arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare at 9am.

EFCC last week said many celebrities are being probed for their illegal use of the nation’s currency. This was after cross-dresser, Idris Okunneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, was convicted Friday following EFCC’s prosecution of him for naira abuse. He was jailed for six months.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Monday.

He said Nigeria’s total crude oil and condensate reserves increased to 37.5 billion barrels on January 1, 2024, with a life index of 68.01 years.

“The commission, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders from NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, representatives of Crude Oil/Condensate Producers, Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria, and Dangote Petroleum Refinery came up with the template for the buy-in of all.

“This is in a bid to foster a seamless implementation of the DCSO and ensure consistent supply of crude oil to domestic refineries.

“The Petroleum Industry Act, PIA intends to make the implementation (of crude oil obligation) easy for producers and refineries.

“So, the answer simply is that the transaction currency would be in Naira or dollar. That is the simple answer.

“But we all know that if the transaction is carried out in Naira, that will free the pressure on the exchange rate.

“That will help the exchange rate. So that is the intent, and besides, the overall intent of the Petroleum Industry Act is to develop our midstream, which is a very laudable provision of the PIA,” he said.

55-year-old Alabi Ogundeji, who is one of the arrested Yoruba Nation agitators who invaded the Oyo State Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly on Monday declared that he doesn’t regret his action.

Corroborating his view, a 29-year-old phone repairer, Ademola Adeniyi, who was part of the arrested agitators, also said he didn’t regret joining the struggle.

About 20 persons were arrested by the police after some masked men in military camouflage with rifles and charms suspected to be Yoruba Nation agitators early Saturday invaded the Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly.

Speaking with newsmen separately at the state Police Command, Eleyele in Ibadan, the state capital, during their parade by the police, the duo insisted that their actions were lawful under Nigeria and international law.

Ogundeji said, “I’m part of the agitation and I can’t deny it. Yoruba as an indigenous nation is a nation on its own. We have so many nations in Nigeria and Yoruba is one of them.

“Oodua Nation leaders have taken every step and action that needed to be taken. So, we embarked on a referendum which was 500 petitions signed by all Yorubas, and this has served as the referendum.

“Our leadership went to all Yoruba-speaking states to serve official letters written by our leaders and we were given our copy. After that is proclamation, declaration, occupation, and notification to the world that Yoruba is an indigenous nation.

“We were at the Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan to celebrate and rejoice because of the new nation that was born. It is not a new thing that Yoruba is a nation and we want to stand on our own. We have been together with Nigeria for over 100 years.

In his own, the 29-year-old phone repairer, Adeniyi, also amongst those arrested said, “We all know that nothing is working in Nigeria and things are hard for everyone except those in government. We were at the Secretariat waiting for our leader to address us.

“We believe our leader knows much about the law. So, we are not afraid to join when we are called upon. Our leader told us that all challenges Yoruba are facing shall be addressed if we achieve our aim,” he stressed.

While parading all the suspects, the state Police Commissioner, Hamzat Adebola, described the act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of treasonable felony and terrorism which would be meted with adequate sanctions.

He explained that the continued existence of Nigeria as a sovereign indivisible entity is a task that must be accomplished, adding that “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.”

“As a parent, I enjoin other parents, guardians and leaders in every sphere of political, religious and socio-economic influence to prevail on their children, ward, protégés and followers against being used by unpatriotic individuals to promote anarchy in the state and by extension, Nation.

“I would like to use this medium to remind the criminally minded that the state is home to many responsible, hospitable and extremely intelligent individuals who pride themselves on creativity, hard work and resourcefulness.”

He, therefore, vowed that it would not be reduced under his watch to a playground for the criminally minded and misguided individuals or groups who intend to make their livelihood by distorting the relative tranquillity enjoyed by the good people of the state.

Source : Punch

Special Assistant to the President on Special Duties in the Office of the Vice-President, Mr Jamiu Abiola, has faulted the invasion of Oyo State House of Assembly and the Governor’s Office by suspected Yoruba nation agitators.

Abiola, in a chat, also said it was sad that a woman connected with his father, late Moshood Abiola, could have declared the South-West region a Democratic Republic of Yoruba Nation, stressing that her call for secession was against all that MKO was known for.

He noted that Abiola, presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election, was prominent for his belief in Nigeria’s unity, saying it convinced the citizenry to give him their votes.

“I have never met her and I don’t think that she told members of the Abiola family because the family members I spoke to are furious about this. They are shocked. Our family patriarch, Chief Moshood Abiola, was well known for his strong belief in Nigeria’s unity and that was why it was easy for him to convince Nigerians from all regions to give him their votes.

“Even after his election was annulled by top army generals mostly from the Northern part of the country he never spoke about splitting Nigeria. It is sad that a woman bearing his name could have made such a declaration, particularly now that the Nigerian President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a Yoruba man who is doing a lot of what my father had wanted to do as Nigeria’s President.

“By doing that we would be giving her declaration more attention than it deserves. We will ignore her just like most Nigerians have done. We have a principled matriarch in the person of Mrs Adebisi Abiola. She became our matriarch following the death of both my step mother and actual mother Alhaja Simbiat Abiola and Alhaja Kudirat Abiola respectively.

“She is a noble woman known to speak the mind of my father even after his death. We also have our eldest sibling, the first child of my father, Mrs Lola Edewor Abiola. She is an intelligent woman accomplished as a politician and technocrat. She can also speak on behalf of the Abiola family,” he added.

(Courtesy, excluding headline, Vanguard)